Member Spotlight: Build Your Credit Career with Designations

The credit industry plays a pivotal role in modern economies, facilitating access to financial resources for individuals and business alike. By earning designations through NACM's Professional Certification Program, credit professionals can take various courses that allow them to increase their knowledge of business credit and become experts in their field.

Lori Hill, CBF, area credit manager at MFA Incorporated (Columbia, MO) is well on her way after earning her Certified Business Fellow (CBF) designation, an academic and participation-based designation which illustrates that achievers are knowledgeable about and have contributed to the field of business credit by first having earned the Credit Business Associate (CBA) designation, as well as having completed additional course work.

Hill's employer, a supporter of NACM, encouraged her to participate in credit exchange group meetings, educational opportunities and the designation process, which ultimately led her to earning her CBA designation in October 2021. Hill started working towards her CBF in early 2022 and passed the exam in June of 2023. "Proper time management is what allowed me to successfully finish each course," she said. "I was able to use the quizzes from each section along with the notes I had taken to study for and pass the exam."

Not only is Hill proud of earning her designation, but she's also proud of the knowledge she gained from the courses. "As credit managers, we work with the legal department, so we need to know how to properly handle some of the legal practices, which the course helped me with," she said. "I'm glad that my employer has an in-house legal team to help us with their accounts and problem solving, but it's beneficial to have that base knowledge that I learned from the classes."

Hill extends her thanks to NACM and her employer for allowing her to participate in the educational programs with NACM.

For more information about each designation within NACM's Professional Certification Program, visit our website.